“If you are not out of this house in two minutes, I am calling the sheriff,” he said.

“I have a restraining order,” he added. “It prevents you from coming within one hundred feet of me or Lily.”

He held up his phone, his thumb hovering over the screen.

“You are a threat to this child’s safety,” Grant said. “Your job makes you a target.”

“He is right, you know,” Vanessa said, leaning against the dining table.

“A woman with your enemies shouldn’t be around a little girl,” she said.

I looked at Lily.

She was still curled on the floor, her eyes fixed on Vanessa’s red shoes.

She was terrified of her.

I wanted to grab Lily and run.

But my tactical training took over.

If I took Lily now, Grant would call the police.

I would be arrested for kidnapping.

I would lose my clearance, my job, and any legal right to my daughter.

I had to play the long game.

I had to gather intelligence, find out who Vanessa really was, and trace the money.

“Two minutes, Evelyn,” Grant said.

He started dialing.